Brough will captain Scotland against France in Australia

Scotland coach Steve McCormack believes his side can provide an upset when they open their World Cup campaign against France in Canberra on Sunday.

The Scots lost 46-16 to the French in a friendly in Perpignan a year ago.

But this time they are bolstered by the presence of captain Danny Brough and the trio of Henderson brothers.

"The players have gelled very quickly," said McCormack. "We're not a team full of egos. They've all dug in and we've all worked together."

The Scots are in a three-strong group with France and Fiji.

"John Monie has got a very good French team and they're capable of playing some fantastic football on their day, but the main focus has been on ourselves," said McCormack.

The Catalans players certainly move at a different pace to the guys out of the domestic competition France coach John Monie

"If we can play to what we're capable of, we can certainly be in there and do very well."

France have drafted in Carcassonne's Teddy Sadaoui in place of Catalans winger Dimitri Pelo, who has failed to recover from a hamstring injury sustained in training.

While Monie acknowledged Pelo would be missed, he said the rest of his nine-strong Catalans contingent would have a positive influence over the squad members from the French domestic competition.

"The Catalans players certainly move at a different pace to the guys out of the domestic competition," he said.

"The guys out of the domestic competition have had to pick their pace up a little bit. We've got a bit of a mixture there, but some of the combinations are pretty solid."